Smart thermostats are thermostats that can be used with home automation and are responsible for controlling a home’s heating and/or air conditioning. They perform similar functions as a Programmable thermostat as they allow the user to control the temperature of their home throughout the day using a schedule, but also contain additional features, such as sensors and WiFi connectivity, that improve upon the issues with programmable thermostats.

Like a connected thermostat, they are connected to the Internet. They allow users to adjust heating settings from other internet-connected devices, such as a laptop or smartphones. This allows users to control the thermostat remotely. This ease of use is essential for ensuring energy savings: studies have shown that households with programmable thermostats actually have higher energy consumption than those with simple thermostats because residents program them incorrectly or disable them completely.

Smart thermostats also record internal/external temperatures, time the HVAC system has been running and can even notify you if your air filter needs to be replaced. This information is typically displayed later on an internet-connected device.

A nest Labs Thermostat

Manual vs. programmable vs. smart thermostats

Manual thermostats

Manual thermostats (also known as analog thermostats) are the oldest and simplest type of thermostats. These thermostats are set to one temperature and do not change until the user manually adjusts the temperature.

Programmable Thermostats

Programmable Thermostats, first introduced in the 1970s, are a type of thermostat that allows the user to set a schedule for different temperatures at different times. Most programmable thermostats also have a hold feature which suspends the schedule and effectively turns the thermostat into a manual thermostat. The idea of the scheduling feature is that users will set a warmer or cooler temperature when the home is unoccupied to save energy and money. Due to this assumed energy savings, some building codes and government programs began requiring the use of programmable thermostats. Unfortunately, due to human error in using these devices, many programmable thermostats result in more energy use than the basic manual thermostat.

Honeywell Manual Thermostat

Issues with programmable thermostats

One of the main objectives of smart thermostats is to reduce the issues involved with using traditional programmable thermostats. In order to understand how smart thermostats take on this task, it is important to understand the issues regarding programmable thermostats and how they affect energy consumption. Between 2008-2009 Florida Power & Light .(FPL) provided 400 homeowners with programmable thermostats and monitored their heating and cooling patterns. Out of the 400 participants, 56% of users used the programming feature while the remaining participants did not program the thermostat and left it on “hold”. It was determined that the users who used the programming feature actually consumed 12% more energy than the non-programmers. This consumption increase resulted from higher overnight duty cycles associated with lower thermostat setpoints (i.e. lower temperature setting), due to confusion with setting the schedule. This study reveals that programmable thermostats will not necessarily save energy. The smart thermostat attempts to combat this issue by taking the user out of the picture and relying on sensors and computers to save energy.

Another study conducted on the issue determined that the biggest problem for programmable thermostats was the human using it. The technology inside a programmable thermostat is no doubt one of the most important factors in determining whether or not the thermostat will be successful in saving energy. But an equally important factor is the human who is using the thermostat. Unfortunately, many people who own programmable thermostats do not know how to use the thermostat or are not using all of the features that are offered. One study conducted a number of interviews, surveys, and observations to determine that the vast majority of programmable thermostat owners are not using the thermostats for their intended purpose. An online survey showed that 89% of respondents do not use the schedule feature on their programmable thermostat. Other results from the interviews and surveys show that a large number of people have misconceptions about heating/cooling and the use of programmable thermostats. One misconception is people believing that heating all of the time is more efficient than scheduling the heat to turn off. Another misconception noted in the study is that turning down the thermostat does not substantially reduce energy consumption. These misconceptions reaffirm the idea that the programmable thermostat itself could have all of the necessary tools, but if the user does not use them or uses them incorrectly, then these thermostats will fail at saving energy.

As a result of these studies and others like them , energy star suspended its labelling of programmable thermostats in December 2009. It became the goal of smart thermostats to address these issues by taking the human out of the picture and creating a thermostat that uses smart computing to truly reduce energy usage and cost.

Smart Thermostats

Smart thermostats are similar to programmable thermostats in the sense that they have a scheduling feature that allows users to set different temperatures for different times of the day. In addition to this feature, smart thermostats implement other technologies to reduce the amount of human error involved with using programmable thermostats. Smart thermostats incorporate the use of sensors that determine whether or not the home is occupied and can suspend heating or cooling until the occupant returns. Additionally, smart thermostats utilize Wi-Fi connectivity to give the user access to the thermostat at all times. These additional technologies have proven to make smart thermostats successful in saving users energy and money.

History

Development of the smart thermostat began in 2007 with the creation of the ecobee thermostat. The founder of ecobee, Stuart Lombard, wanted to save energy and reduce his family’s carbon footprint. After realizing that heating and cooling made up most of his home’s energy usage, Lombard purchased a programmable thermostat in an attempt to reduce total energy usage. Lombard quickly discovered that the programmable thermostat was difficult to use and unreliable. Following difficulties with the programmable thermostat, he set out to create a smart thermostat that saved energy and was easy to use. With that goal, the ecobee company was created in attempt to offer users a thermostat that could truly save energy by fixing the issues with programmable thermostats.

Following the ecobee, EnergyHub released its version of a smart thermostat in 2009 with the creation of the EnergyHub Dashboard. The co-founder of EnergyHub, Seth Frader-Thompson, got the idea for the Dashboard from his Prius. The Prius had screens on the dashboard that displayed the car’s gas mileage in real time. Thompson felt that a house should have something that does the same. With that goal in mind, Thompson created a thermostat that could communicate with a home’s furnace and appliances to determine the energy usage and efficiency and how much it was costing. The thermostat also had the capability to turn off appliances or raise and lower the temperature to save energy and cost. Ultimately, the goal of this thermostat was to display energy usage to users and to save energy and money.

Nest Labs company logo. Creators of the Nest Learning Thermostat

In 2011, Nest Labs developed the Nest Lerning Thermostat.The Nest Thermostat attempted to reduce home energy consumption by addressing the problems with programmable thermostats through the use of better technology. This new technology included the implementation of sensors, algorithms, machine learning, and cloud computing. These technologies learn the behaviors and preferences of the occupants, and adjust the temperature up or down to make the occupant comfortable when they are home and to save energy when they are away. Additionally, the Nest Thermostat connects to the home Wi-Fi. This allows users to change the temperature, adjust the schedule, and check energy usage from a smartphone or laptop. All of these features were part of Nest’s goal to create an easy to use thermostat that saves users energy and money.

Technology:

Programmable Schedule and Auto Schedule

The programmable schedule feature on the smart thermostat is similar to that on standard programmable thermostats. Users are given the option to program a custom schedule to reduce energy usage when they are away from the home. Studies have shown, though, that manually creating a schedule may lead to more energy usage than just keeping the thermostat at a set temperature. To avoid this problem, smart thermostats also provide an auto schedule feature. This feature requires the use of algorithms and pattern recognition to create a schedule that results in occupant comfort and energy savings. Upon creating a schedule, the thermostat will continue monitoring occupant behavior to make changes to the auto schedule. By taking the human error out of the scheduling, smart thermostats can create smart schedules that actually save energy.

Sensor :

The Nest Web Portal allows users to remotely change the temperature,

create a schedule, and view past energy usage

In an attempt to mitigate the issues with human error involved with programmable thermostats, the smart thermostat utilizes a sensor that can determine occupancy patterns to automatically change the temperature based on occupant patterns and behaviors. The Nest Learning Thermostat in particular uses passive infrared (PIR) motion sensors inside the unit to sense occupancy in the vicinity of the thermostat. This sensor informs the thermostat whether or not the home is occupied. In the case that the home is not occupied, the thermostat can suspend heating/cooling until the sensor is reactivated by an occupant. This sensor is also used to determine the occupancy patterns to create the auto schedule. A grille member is placed in front of the sensor to visually conceal and protect the PIR motion sensor inside the thermostat. The grille also helps to make the thermostat visually pleasing. While this sensor technology is important for conserving energy, it is not without flaws. One of the major issues is that the sensor must be activated by someone walking in front of or near the thermostat. It is possible that an occupant could be at home and not pass in front of the sensor. In this case, the thermostat would shut off the heating/cooling and decrease human comfort.

Internet Connection

Another major feature of smart thermostats is their ability to connect to the internet. Smart thermostats are designed with a WiFi module that allows the thermostat to connect to the users home or office network and interface with a web portal or smartphone application, allowing users to control the unit remotely. The WiFi feature also has the ability to send reports on energy usage and HVAC system performance via the web portal, informing the user on their energy efficiency and how it compares to other smart thermostat users. It also alerts users when a problem arises with their HVAC system or when it is time for equipment maintenance. The thermostat also uses the WiFi connection to display current weather conditions and the weather forecast.

Another feature offered by some smart thermostats through the internet connection is geofencing. A geofence is a perimeter boundary created around the location of a smartphone or other device, based on GPS signals. The benefit of having a smart thermostat with geofencing capabilities is that it uses a users smartphone location to determine whether the home is occupied. Instead of using a schedule or sensor to determine occupancy, the smart thermostat can rely on the location of the geofence to tell the HVAC system whether it needs to be on or off. Since most people carry their phones with them, geofencing can be an accurate way to determine occupancy patterns.

Learning thermostats

The Ecobee 4 thermostat

Some smart thermostats, such as the Nest thermostat, can learn when the house is likely to be occupied, and when it is likely to be empty. This allows automatic pre-heating or pre-cooling so the temperature is comfortable when a resident arrives. If the residents or lifestyles change, these smart thermostats will gradually adjust the schedule, maintaining energy savings and comfort.

Motion detectors can determine if someone is home. One smart thermostat that uses motion detectors is the Ecobee 4.

A wireless Network can be used to sense when someone is out of range, thus determining if they’re in or nearby their home. This technique called geofencing is used by the Honeywell T6 Smart Thermostat.

Connected thermostats

A Connected thermostat is one that can be controlled through an internet connection, but will not provide analytic information. In recent years WI-FI thermostats have risen in popularity, they combine the technology of thermometers and WI-FI. So now you can have a thermometer in your home that is displayed on your phone that uses WiFi technology. This technology is being developed right now so it will be available for thermostats in machinery and cars. Google are involved in this push towards technology since they acquired a Wi-Fi temperature company called Nest. The market of smart thermostats is expected to reach around 3.5 Billion USD by the end of the year 2022.

Zoned systems

Rather than controlling the temperature of the whole house, zoned systems can control individual rooms. This can increase energy savings, for example by heating or cooling only a Home-office and not the bedrooms and other areas that are empty during the day.

Learning zoned systems

The most advanced smart thermostats combine both: they are able to learn when each room of a house is normally occupied and automatically schedule the heating for that room appropriately. Currently, the only such system available for home use is Heat Genius.

Studies

Internal Studies

To show that their thermostats save energy and money, numerous smart thermostat producers have conducted models and studies to confirm their savings claims. One popular way that smart thermostat producers calculate energy usage is through energy modeling. In these models, the smart thermostat is compared to a thermostat set at a constant temperature, and savings are calculated. Using this method, ecobee calculated energy savings by correlating how long heating and cooling equipment run to local weather conditions. Energy savings were calculated relative to a constant temperature of 72 °F. Upon conducting this model, ecobee determined a 23% savings on heating and cooling costs for those who switch to their smart thermostat. Using a similar modeling method, Nest claimed a 20% energy savings for homeowners who install a Nest Learning Thermostat.

To determine energy savings using actual data instead of energy models, in February 2015, Nest conducted a national study of Nest customers in 41 states who had enrolled in Nest’s MyEnergy service. In May 2013, Nest acquired MyEnergy, a company that tracks and analyzes utility usage of people enrolled in the program. Upon acquiring MyEnergy, Nest was able to use the historical data to determine the energy savings of those who installed the Nest Learning Thermostat. This study looked at energy usage before and after the installation of a Nest Learning Thermostat and used a weather normalization procedure to prevent unusually cold or warm weather from skewing the data. The study had a sample size of 735 homes for gas usage analysis and 624 homes for electrical analysis. All of these homes were enrolled in the MyEnergy program and had sufficient energy data before and after the installation of a Nest Learning Thermostat. After observing the energy usage for one year, Nest determined that there was an average gas savings of 10% and a cooling savings of 17.5%. The savings varied from house to house depending on how occupants set their thermostat before the installation of a Nest thermostat, along with differences in occupancy patterns, house characteristics, and weather.

Gas and Electric Savings Results

Fuel

Sample Size

Pre-Nest Total Energy Use

Pre-Nest HVAC

Total Energy Savings

% of HVAC

Natural Gas (therms/yr)

735

774

584

56 ±12

9.6 ±2.1%

Electricity (kWh/yr)

624

12,355

3,351

585 ±97

17.5 ±2.9%

While the results from the MyEnergy study are significantly lower than those from energy modeling, both show a savings in energy usage by switching to a smart thermostat.